The coalition met again with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) on May 27, 2026, to continue exchanging proposals and discussing contract priorities. As a reminder, many unions are represented within this coalition, so a significant amount of discussion during bargaining involves proposals impacting multiple bargaining units across state facilities.

During the session, proposals were exchanged and discussed, though no economic proposals were traded at this time.

Proposals Discussed during this Session

Safety MOU
Management proposed “sunsetting” the current Safety MOU that requires quarterly meetings between management and WSNA representatives to review and discuss safety concerns within the facilities.

WSNA does not agree with eliminating this MOU. These meetings have created an important avenue for collaboration and information sharing regarding workplace safety, training concerns, and operational issues impacting nurses and residents. We believe this process continues to provide value and should remain in place.

Break Relief Proposal
Management also raised questions regarding WSNA’s Break Relief Nurse proposal and requested a separate meeting with WSNA representatives to better understand the concerns driving the proposal.

Nurse Practice and Medications

Management was not in agreement with our proposal to add new language prohibiting them from assigning nurses responsible for supervision to also be assigned to patient care and medication cart duties. If they must do patient care, then they shall be relieved of supervisory duties.

WSNA agreed to participate in a focused discussion with management regarding break relief concerns and the operational issues nurses are experiencing related to meal and rest breaks. There will also be further discussion on the Nurse Practice and Medications proposal. These discussions are important as we continue to advocate for safe and sustainable staffing practices.

Tentative Agreements (TAs)

Only a small number of minor Tentative Agreements were reached during this session. These primarily involved language cleanup and clarification and did not involve major substantive changes or economic items.

Where Things Stand

At this point:

• No economic proposals have been exchanged
• DVA has not yet responded to WSNA’s wage proposals
• Discussions remain in early stages
• Unsafe medication administration practices

As bargaining progresses, we expect conversations to increasingly focus on the major priorities nurses have identified, including wages, staffing stability, scheduling practices, and workplace safety.

The next bargaining session is currently scheduled for June 17.

What This Means

This session continued the process of identifying and discussing the issues that matter most to nurses, including:

• maintaining strong safety collaboration and accountability
• improving safe and sustainable staffing practices
• ensuring meaningful access to uninterrupted meal and rest breaks
• protecting fair scheduling and workplace practices

As bargaining continues, we will begin to see how the employer responds to the priorities you identified.

Stay Engaged

Your input has directly shaped these proposals, and your continued engagement will be important as bargaining progresses.

If you are experiencing issues related to:

• on-call scheduling
• missed breaks
• low census practices
• vacation denials

please continue to share those examples, they strengthen our ability to advocate effectively at the table.

We will continue to keep you updated after each bargaining session.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement.

In solidarity,
Your Coalition Bargaining Team

Questions? Contact your WSNA Nurse Representative.